


Carpe Diem

by peppermiintmocha



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alvarez Arc Is A Disaster, Alvarez Teikoku Hen | Alvarez Empire Arc (Fairy Tail), Canon Divergence - Post-Grand Magic Games Arc, Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, Eclipse Arc (Fairy Tail), F/M, Gen, Hell Yeah Memory Make, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rufus is Underrated, Sabertooth Deserves Better, Sabertooth-Centric (Probably Obvious At This Point), Stop Nerfing All Other Guilds Actually, Stop Nerfing Sabertooth, Tartaros Arc (Fairy Tail), Telekinesis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-20 11:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15533577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermiintmocha/pseuds/peppermiintmocha
Summary: Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow."- Horace'sOdesAfter the deaths of all her closest friends, Lucy Heartfilia makes a desperate attempt to alter the course of history that thrusts an innocent girl into a world full of magic and dangers. Izumi wants nothing more than to be an average mage, but destiny seems to have different plants for her when she's caught in dangerous wagers and a war that tears apart continents.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, welcome to my first fanfiction posted here on AO3! 'Carpe Diem' is a canon-divergent _Fairy Tail_ fanfiction spanning all story arcs from the Grand Magic Games onwards (excluding anime-only arcs). In the future, you may be seeing some notes at the end of my chapters as I explain certain changes made to canon, based on the ripples an OC's existence causes, and my decisions in fleshing out parts of the world that Mashima built. Thank you for clicking on the work and I hope you enjoy it!

If she had a life before the light, she did not remember any of it. Only the light itself, and what came after.

It began with an ocean of golden brightness, soft and warm and comforting. A gentle tugging sensation carried her through the currents of light that were, for a brief, blissful time, her entire world.

Then came the darkness. It was just a small patch at first, a pinprick that pierced through her golden euphoria. It seemed to make no matter, until the darkness quickly spread, drinking up the light like tendrils of ink reaching out in all directions. Within seconds, the last speck of brightness had disappeared, and she was all alone in a sea of blind uncertainty. 

She began falling. As she fell, she felt a heat stirring inside her, from deep in her body where her soul resided, if souls indeed existed. It grew in intensity, emanating from that point until her veins and arteries felt choked with liquid fire. She screamed and screamed and screamed until her lungs were raw and there was something warm and wet on her cheeks, but she heard nothing, saw nothing, and eventually, felt nothing.

When she could see, hear, and feel again, she saw so many unfamiliar faces, heard so many unfamiliar voices, and felt so many unfamiliar feelings. In time, those faces became Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna; those voices became Natsu, Erza, and Gray; those feelings became the hum of the magic that was alive in everything around her. 

The faces smiled at her, the voices called out  _ Izumi! _ and she learned to harness the energy inside and around her. Even so, however, the nagging feeling of unbelonging never left her, but she did her best to ignore it, to forget it.

Eventually, she stopped thinking about July 7th, X777, and everything felt normal. 


	2. Izumi Akiyama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes."  
> \- Thomas Hardy

She had been training for little over two hours when she was very nearly skewered by a stake of white light. Her training partner’s White Dragon’s Roar sailed over her head as she ducked, the beam of concentrated magic crashing into the brick wall behind her. It crumbled under the impact, reducing one of the last of the ruins still-standing walls to nothing but a pile of smoking rubble. 

From the sidelines, Izumi heard Rufus instruct her to counterattack, so she did, telekinetically picking up a broken chunk of brick and launching it at Sting Eucliffe with all the force her mind still possessed. The Dragon Slayer stopped it with one hand, letting it drop to the sand at his feet with a muffled  _ thud _ . 

With a look, she signalled for Sting to continue his onslaught. He casually shot a thin ray of light from his fingertips, and this time, Izumi gathered up the majority of what remained of her magic power and flung it outwards in defense of herself. As the two magics collided, hers encircled Sting’s attack and held it in place. 

Slowly, she turned the point of the beam around, towards the mage who had issued it.

_ I wish this was just a brick,  _ she reflected as her control wavered precariously,  _ magic is so much harder… _

It was indeed. Ethernano of different natures and origins tended to repel each other, causing her endless difficulties when it came to trying to manipulate substances composed of them. Even being a possessor of a magic of fairly neutral properties, Izumi still vastly preferred reflective shields when it came to her own defense, but for the sake of the upcoming Games she thought it useful to learn something more. 

Before long, both her grip and patience slipped and staggering backwards she let go of the frozen magic, which shot towards Sting. He tilted his head to the side to let it pass, where it hit a pillar behind him and left a dark crater on its surface. 

“Are you alright?” Sting asked her, running a hand through his unruly blond hair. Izumi found that the action fixated her, but that was hardly anything new - every action performed by Sting Eucliffe seemed to have a similar effect. “You look…”

“About to fall on my face? There is that risk,” she admitted wearily, taking small, cautious steps towards where Rufus stood with her belongings. “Thank you for training with me.” 

“Not a problem,” Sting replied. “After all… every time you win in the Games will be a win for Sabertooth also.”

Izumi stayed silent and knelt down on the grass to gather up her weapons. Her  _ naginata _ was safe in its sheath, and the faint blue glow that peeked out from beneath the wood was the only indicator that the weapon was not an ordinary one. 

Rufus handed her jacket to her. She shrugged it on, despite being sweaty. “You don’t lack for efficiency… but stamina is something you’ll still need to work on,” he told her. “But there are still three months. We have plenty of time.”

She nodded and stood, swallowing the apprehension that rose inside her every time someone mentioned the Games. The Grand Magic Games was a broadcasted magic tournament held in Crocus every summer for all the mage guilds in Fiore to participate. Contestants engaged in a variety of events, from exhibitions to races to combat, in order to win points for their guild. The guilds that stood out had more jobs sent to them after the Games, more media coverage, and this year, there was even a thirty million Jewel prize.

Izumi Akiyama was to represent Sabertooth for the first time, and even as a reserve member, the idea terrified her. 

Compared to the famous members of the other guilds, she didn’t stand a chance. There was Bacchus Groh, the Drunk Falcon of Quatro Cerberus; Kagura Mikazuchi, the legendary swordswoman who never unsheathed her blade; and of course, there was her own team - Sabertooth, the reigning champions for the past four years. 

It was common knowledge that Master Jiemma only put Izumi on the team for the lack of better mages. It was also common knowledge that should Izumi fail, she would not get another chance…

After all, she was on her second chance already; she’d used up her first one two years ago.

An elated shout interrupted her from her depressing thoughts - a small creature with rust-coloured fur was flying up the hillside, shouting Sting’s name. 

“Sting-kun! Rufus-kun, Izumi-san!” Lector’s wings folded behind him and vanished as he landed at Sting’s feet, eyes bright with excitement and short arms waving frantically. “Sting-kun! I have news, and I think you’d like to hear it.” 

“That so?” Sting squatted down in front of his Exceed companion, head tilted to the side in inquiry. “What is it?”

“The Fairy Tail team,” the Exceed had to pause to catch his breath, “the one that disappeared seven years ago - they’re back!”

Izumi’s breath hitched in her throat.

_ They’re back. _

* * *

 

Being high above the ground was comforting to Izumi. With the wind behind her back and the world beneath her, she felt as if no one could hurt her, not even Master.

It was a foolish thought, of course - it was on top of his guildhall, his crouching stone tiger, that she made her perch. Jiemma needed only shout, and she would have to scramble down immediately and kneel at his feet. But he didn’t care where she was or what she was doing, so long as she promised good performance for the Games. 

Tonight, Izumi had taken to her usual haunt high above Acacia Town, hoping the breeze would clear her head.  _ And dry my tears, that too _ . 

After Lector had brought the news of Team Tenrou’s return… she had not known what to think, what to do, or what to feel. Seven years, it had been; two years of holding on to a desperate wish that they would come back, one of giving up all the Jewel she could spare to the guild in hopes that they could  _ at least keep the hall, if not their lost family _ , and finally, four of finding a new home, only for that to be just as unforgiving and cruel as the previous, in a different way. Where Fairy Tail had grown painfully poor, its job pool stagnant, Sabertooth was the opposite, but the threat of excommunication loomed over her head constantly since the day Eisenwald Reformed blew up Clover Town.

Her acute magic sensing abilities alerted her of the arrival of a distinct and familiar presence - his magic signature was the riffle of parchment, flashes of old memories, and the light of red moon of that fateful night that left Izumi feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. Rufus Lore had arrived soundlessly behind her, with his long hair swept elegantly over one shoulder. 

In a few quick strides, he crossed the distance between them and sat down next to her, his eyes trained on the horizon where the sun was nearly out of sight. From where they sat, they could see the entire town sprawled out around the high hill upon which the Sabertooth guild hall was built. To the north, there were the ruins where they had trained that morning; to the south and east, the town was ringed by mountains; and to the west, the last vestiges of sunlight still lined the horizon. 

“I thought I would find you here,” he said quietly. “If I recall correctly, this is your favourite place, of all those around the guild.” 

Izumi made no answer. She did not want to hear her own voice, hoarse and shaky as it must have been. 

“What’s bothering you?” he asked persistently, even though he surely knew. “The job I took this afternoon could’ve used your help.” 

She glared at him out of red-rimmed eyes. “You did  _ not _ need my help to catch puppies.”

“I thought it might do to cheer you,” he responded. “After all, why else would I consent to a job so far below my station? Dobengal could have done just as well.” 

“Does Master know that jobs like this one are coming into our guild? The number one guild in Fiore?” She could hardly keep her scorn out of her voice. There were days that Izumi hated it in Sabertooth, hated life under Jiemma’s control, but she stayed. Stayed for the copious amount of money that being a mage of Sabertooth guaranteed, and more than that… stayed for Rufus, for Yukino, for the home she had found, however awful it tended to be.

Rufus shrugged. “He must, but there’s nothing he can do about it. A guild is obligated to take the jobs the locals of their town send out. It’s much too costly for them to go looking for mages elsewhere. And even if they did, what mage would travel a hundred miles to round up lost pets?”

Izumi had nothing to say to that, so the two sat in silence for a while, as finally the last of daylight vanished. All she could think about was, beyond those hills, they were  _ back _ …

As if he’d read her mind, Rufus said, “If it’ll make you feel better, you should go.” 

“To what end?” she asked. She felt like crying again, but she  _ would not _ cry in front of Rufus. “Proving that I abandoned the guild when they needed me most?” 

Rufus responded with a wry smile. “I see four years in Sabertooth has not changed the fact that you’re still the sentimental little girl I picked up outside of Hargeon,” he laughed softly. “I told you it would be difficult, that Master would be cruel, yet you insisted on coming.” 

Izumi knew that his words were meant to lighten the atmosphere, but the words hit closer to home than Rufus realized. Had she not insisted, in a fit of impulse, on joining his guild that day… 

“I can’t go back,” she declared. “Not until… not until at least after the Games are over.”

The decision was somewhat arbitrary; she just… didn’t feel ready yet.

To this, Rufus nodded his agreement, though his reasons for thinking so were quite different from what Izumi had in mind. “You’re right. Before the Games, it is better not to do anything that would incur Master’s wrath… visiting your old guild would likely be chief among those things.”

“They’ll be in the competition, right?” She hadn’t stayed for Lector’s entire announcement - she couldn’t - so she was unsure. Instead, she used what little magic power she had left after the training session and instantaneously transported herself back to her apartment. She’d promptly collapsed after that, and it was late evening before she was able to move around again. But better that than to let her teammates see her tears, her  _ weakness _ .

“They will, and they’ll inevitably recognize you, by your name if not your face. After all, from what Lector reports, they were trapped in a rift, and no time has passed for them.” Rufus’ curiosity was plain enough to see. “It’s quite intriguing, this whole business. And I look forward to testing my skills against the mages that were formerly lauded as Fiore’s best.”

“You’ll get the chance during the Games.” Izumi felt differently.  _ She _ did not want to test her skills against her former guild mates - if leaving Fairy Tail felt wrong,  _ fighting  _ them, even in exhibitional combat, felt like a damnable sin. 

“I do hope so. And you should know that Sting is beside himself with excitement.”

She hadn’t really thought about Sting since the news arrived, and his name brought to mind a different face. The mage that Sting wished to fight, to surpass - Natsu Dragneel. 

His face had begun to fade slowly from Izumi’s memory, the seven years of his absence taking its toll, but his most distinctive features were still clear. Sharp canines, cherry-blossom pink hair, large pointed eyes, and a wide grin that shone like the fire from which he drew his strength. 

As if that one memory had opened a floodgate, Izumi’s mind suddenly swam with the faces of her loved ones from seven years past. There was Erza, with her flaming red hair, Gray with his chest bared, the little blue Exceed Happy whom they’d thought was a Dragon at first… 

And the brightest faces of all were the Strauss siblings, her surrogate family for as long as she could remember. Elfman, huge and huggable, who always had the time to take her out to play; gentle, happy Lisanna, who died and came back with her optimism untouched; and most of all Mirajane, strong and beautiful and endlessly compassionate.

_ How could I ever have left them behind? _

For a time, she’d blamed them - blamed them for sailing off to Tenrou Island and never coming back. But now she could only find blame for herself, for not staying and waiting for their return. 

_ Would Mira-nee be wondering,  _ where’s Izumi?

“Izumi.” Her name startled her out of her thoughts and she found that her cheeks were wet again. She turned away quickly, even though she knew that Rufus had already seen. 

“Izumi,” he repeated. “Are you listening?” 

“No,” she whispered, too quietly for him to hear. She angled one ear towards him to indicate that she was. 

“When the Games start, watch Fairy Tail closely,” he said. “And if they’re still the same guild they once were, leave Sabertooth and go back after the Games are finished.”

Her eyes widened involuntarily as she turned back to Rufus. “What?”

“Need I repeat myself?”

“No,” she whispered again, but this time, he caught it. “Why… why do you suggest this?”

“Sabertooth has never really been a place for someone like you.” Rufus’ voice held an unidentifiable edge. Even though she could sense no malice, the words and tone still cut. “Don’t look at me as if I said something cruel. If you trust my judgement as much as you say you do, then you would know that I am right.”

“What about… what about you?” The words tumbled out, unintended. “I-”

His dark green eyes were the only part of him that displayed any kind of surprise, but they quickly hardened as well. “Why, I’ll just go on the same as I always have.”

Izumi stood abruptly, blinking tears from her eyes. “I’m going home,” she said, her voice tight. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded curtly in confirmation, and Izumi stepped off the edge of the building, letting the wind and magic catch her as she fell. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is Chapter 1! If you enjoyed it and have some time to spare, please leave comments! I would absolutely love to hear what everyone thinks about it. You've likely all noticed already, but I've taken Rufus' character and expanded on it greatly, applying what I think would reasonably happen if he made a friend like Izumi. I do hope to stay true to his canon traits as well, so those will surface more often once the Games begin and you see him interact with other characters, aside from Izumi. Happy reading!


End file.
